Iraq News
Terrorism

As losses mount, ISIS elements lose will to fight

By Khalid al-Taie

Iraqi forces hold a position on November 4th near the Syrian border after recapturing the border town of al-Qaim, western Anbar, from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' a day earlier. [Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP]

Iraqi forces hold a position on November 4th near the Syrian border after recapturing the border town of al-Qaim, western Anbar, from the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' a day earlier. [Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP]

After losing the vast majority of territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) must now contend with degraded morale and desertions in its ranks, experts tell Diyaruna.

Simply put, they said, ISIS elements have lost the will to fight.

This became evident after the group suffered a crushing defeat in Mosul, where many fighters fled the battlefield and others surrendered in large numbers.

Early ISIS propaganda portrayed its fighters as "invincible, obeying orders and not failing, fighting till the last breath", they said.

But no longer, it seems.

No will to fight

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's dream of establishing a "caliphate" has turned into a nightmare, said Hashem al-Hashemi, an expert on extremist groups.

After suffering a string of defeats, the biggest loss for ISIS is now the absence of the will to fight among its fighters, he told Diyaruna.

"This is due to the psychological collapse of these fighters because of the killing of many of their comrades and also their senior leaders, who motivated them," he said.

As the territory controlled by ISIS dwindled to 2% of what it once was, many of the group's foreign elements escaped the battle to return to their home countries, al-Hashemi said.

Loss of morale and the will to fight also was common among the group's local Iraqi fighters, most of whom joined the group looking for money, influence and power, he said.

The majority of them were "young and uneducated", he said.

Late last year, Iraqi forces found documents belonging to ISIS in liberated areas of Anbar province that reveal the extent of the local elements' degraded morale.

According to those documents, defecting ISIS elements justified their lack of enthusiasm to fight by saying that the salaries they were getting from the group were not enough.

Others expressed their wish to leave ISIS in order to support their families, claiming that they have sick children or parents who need them.

ISIS executes deserters

ISIS has suffered painful blows, and the increasing rate of escape or defections in its ranks is a clear indication of defeat, said Sheikh Ghazi Nafe al-Jughaifi, a leader of the Jaghayfah tribe in Haditha.

The group's elements are "very disappointed and frustrated", he told Diyaruna. "They know that all their sick dreams have evaporated and their plans have gone with the wind."

"The group is nearing the end," al-Jughaifi said, adding that it is likely that the number of deserters will only increase despite ISIS's threat to execute any fighter who retreats from combat or does not obey orders.

After ISIS's failed attempt to seize areas around Ramadi on September 27th, three of the group's elements managed to flee Iraq to the Syrian city of al-Raqa, which has since been retaken by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

But as soon as they made it to al-Raqa, the three were executed by ISIS commanders in Syria on charges of desertion, Anbar provincial council member Naeem al-Koud told Diyaruna.

By increasing the severity of punishment for deserters, ISIS is trying to force its remaining elements to continue fighting, he said.

"But these attempts have not achieved the desired effect for the group," al-Koud said, "and ISIS is now facing oblivion".

Do you like this article?

0 Comment(s)
Comment Policy * Denotes Required Field 1500 / 1500